Watch: How To Become A Graphic Designer In 2018 Offers Valuable Career Advice

Charlie Lewismight be a full-time digital designer today, but just like everybody else, he started out applying for various jobs and at times, feeling slightly confused or lost about the situation or next step.

Looking back, Lewis realizes that there are vital lessons he’d learnt along the way, which he hopes to pass on to other students, graduates, and essentially any other creative who is struggling with the job search.

His five points include not feeling daunted by achieving the seemingly unattainable, not being overly-obsessed with your portfolio, understanding that the job description is not carved in stone, getting failures out of the way, and being involved in social media.

Lewis elaborates inside the career advice clip on the aforementioned points, such as how the great divide between where he was and where he wanted to be narrowed after clinching his first job.

The designer also clarifies the importance of a portfolio and how this emphasis varies between the applicants’ positions. For instance, while freelance illustrators and those applying to creative agencies rely more heavily on their portfolios, other nine-to-fives seeking graphic designers are slightly different.

In his experience, they tend to seek out one project in your portfolio during the interview, get you to talk about it, before emphasizing other vital aspects, such as teamwork. Lewis reminds that the company is not only looking at your portfolio, but also interested in hiring you as a person. As such, the portfolio acts more of a tool to get you through the door.